The inventive concept relates to a mask fabrication method, and more particularly, to a method of fabricating an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) mask and a method of fabricating a semiconductor device by using an optical proximity correction (OPC) method.
Among processes of manufacturing a semiconductor device, a lithography process is a core processing technology for forming circuit patterns by irradiating a ray onto a photosensitive layer applied on a substrate. In the lithography process, a deep ultraviolet (DUV) light source is mainly used as a light source, but there is an optical limitation in using the DUV light source because a line width is rapidly reduced. Accordingly, a new light source such as an EUV ray, an electron beam, an X-ray, or an ion beam has been researched, and the EUV ray and the electron beam have been considered as a next-generation exposure technology. In EUV lithography technology, a wavelength of an EUV band, for example, 13.4 nm, is used. In addition, since almost all kinds of materials have high light absorbency in the EUV range, an optical system of an EUV exposure device is configured by using a reflective mirror in order to use the EUV ray, and a reflective mask is also adopted. In addition, as patterns become smaller, an optical proximity effect (OPE) caused by influences between adjacent patterns occurs during an exposure process. To address the OPE, an OPC method that helps prevent the occurrence of the OPE by correcting a pattern layout on a mask, on which patterns are transferred, may be used in a mask manufacturing process.